Through this project, we aim to determine on-farm factors that may effect the fertility of farms which use automated activity monitors (AAM) within their reproductive management in southern Brazil. AAM are technologies that monitor the physical activity of cows to try to detect when the cow comes into estrus. These technologies are becoming more important […]

Laure Aymé is a PhD student focusing her research on a plant protein family involved in lipid biosynthesis and important for oil accumulation and biotechnological purposes. Laure recently published an article describing the function and localization of a protein inserted in two distinct cellular compartment membranes, a rather unique situation with few available data. During […]

Milk adulteration is a very common practice in the field of dairy production in certain countries, where different methods are used to adulterate milk. Such methods vary in their sophistication from simply adding water to using different chemicals such as urea and melamine, which usually countervail the effects of adding water on indices used to […]

The proposed research area of my master’s project is on the structure and function relationships of food-related proteins, at a fundamental and molecular level. My focus is on the plant specific insert (PSI), a saposin-like-protein in Solanum tuberosum, which has the potential to impact on both food safety and agricultural practices. Plants rely on their […]

Avec les derniers accords, en matière de politique commerciale canadienne, il devenait nécessaire d’analyser l’impact économique de ces accords sur l’industrie laitière en prenant compte les résultats des travaux déjà entrepris sur ce sujet. L’objectif général de notre étude est d’analyser l’impact des réformes commerciales suite à l’AECG (Accord Économique Commerciale Globale) et au PTP […]

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a Gram-negative pathogen that is frequently related to nosocomial infections. The bacterial biofilm controlled by quorum sensing system allows P. aeruginosa to adhere to any surface and protect it from antibacterial treatments, such as antibiotics and heat treatment. The novel invention strategy developed in this project is to inhibit P. aeruginosa biofilm […]

Animal welfare is a field of animal science that focuses on evaluating and bettering animal lives by investigating biological functioning, affective states, and ability to live naturally. Animal welfare is a measure that is emerging as a key social concern in animal agriculture and as a result, is becoming more prevalent in industry practices. Nonetheless, […]

Vibrio parahemolyticus represents the most rapidly increasing foodbourne illness encountered in foods. Whereas cases of more commonly encountered pathogen such as Salmonella have remained static, those associated with Vibrio have increased over the last 20 years. Part of the increased incidence is due to better diagnostics but also warming of sea via climate change have […]

In the egg industry, as the hens are at the end of their productive lives they are of little economic value to the farmers and seen as a by-product or a waste which require disposal. Disposal of spent hens is a long-existing liability to the egg industry for paying associated cost of handling, transportation and […]

Structured lipids, specifically diacylglyceride (DAG) oils, have potential to replace trans fats and oils high in saturated fats such as palm and thus provide healthier oils with improved functionalities and sustainability. However, they are produced using costly and environmentally unfriendly “enzyme in solvent” systems, and have shortcomings when utilized in certain food applications. DAG oils […]

“Functional foods and cosmetics contain physiologically active compounds. However, many active ingredients are susceptible to degradation and/or are not efficiently absorbed by the body. It is increasingly recognized that the composition and physical structures of the products, and interactions between ingredients in the matrix can impact the stability and availability of active ingredients. Encapsulation is […]

Omega-3 fats are good for our health. When a person has low levels of omega-3s, this can lead to a number of serious health problems, such as heart disease. The typical diet in North America doesn’t have much omega-3 fat, meaning that most people have low levels of these important fats. The existing tools to measure […]